Entering the ThyssenKrupp factory in Turin, burnt to the ground in a fire that killed seven of the workers, Pippo Delbono did not know that he would have to communicate the deafening silence that enveloped him. He did not know that he would ask his actors to make what is not reasonable, what is not audible, resonate. He did not know that he would combine the images of reality with those of fiction, in particular those of the painter Francis Bacon. He did not know that he would question himself about his own lies, his own omissions and would put himself on stage in a show that runs through every form of theatre. As always with Pippo Delbono, the bodies are at the centre: bodies with a massive presence taking up all the space or silhouettes in chiaroscuro, crossing shadowy areas on a stage where death lurks and becomes agitated; bodies that speak of disquiet, imbalance, the violence of relations, inside and outside the factory. Semblances, travesties, mask games and musical accompaniments mixing Wagner and Stravinsky are put to use in a modern fable that plays with cracks and breaks, prohibiting any peaceful complicity between actors and spectators. It is a theatre linked to life that is expressed here, a theatre that is both civic and fantastical. A theatre in which Pippo Delbono lays himself bare in the middle of his loyal and astonishing actors, whose radiant presence occasionally recalls that of Pina Bausch or Tadeusz Kantor's interpreters. A theatre of risk and discomfort that also gives an important place to tenderness and emotion, to the softness of an exposed body. Creating disturbance, offering unforgettable images, it develops like a long cry with multiple intensities, a cry of love and of rage. JFP
Distribution
conception and direction: Pippo Delbono
scenography: Claude Santerre
lighting: Robert John Resteghini
sound: Angelo Colonna
costumes: Antonella Cannarozzi
with: Dolly Albertin, Gianluca Ballarè, Raffaella Banchelli, Bobò, Pippo Delbono, Lucia Della Ferrera, Antonella De Sarno, Ilaria Distante, Claudio Gasparotto, Gustavo Giacosa, Simone Goggiano, Mario Intruglio, Nelson Lariccia, Julia Morawietz, Mr. Puma, Gianni Parenti, Pepe Robledo, Grazia Spinella
Production
coproduction: Emilia Romagna Teatro Fondazione (Modène), L'Union européenne dans le cadre du projet Prospero, Fondazione del Teatro Stabile di Torino (Turin),
Teatro di Roma (Rome), Théâtre du Rond-Point-Paris, Maison de la Culture d'Amiens, Malta Festival (Poznan)